Impacts of access to free news subscriptions of traditional news outlets on news consumption behavior, political attitudes, and democratic preferences

Last registered on June 26, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Impacts of access to free news subscriptions of traditional news outlets on news consumption behavior, political attitudes, and democratic preferences
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0009940
Initial registration date
September 01, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 08, 2022, 12:40 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
June 26, 2023, 10:30 PM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Brazil
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Joao Francisco Pugliese
Affiliation
Stanford University
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Caio Castro
PI Affiliation
Sao Paulo School of Economics
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-08-19
End date
2022-12-05
Keywords
Other
Additional Keywords
News, Politics
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study the impacts of offering access to newspapers by providing free digital news subscriptions to individuals and incentivizing consumption.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Castro, Caio and Joao Francisco Pugliese. 2023. "Impacts of access to free news subscriptions of traditional news outlets on news consumption behavior, political attitudes, and democratic preferences." AEA RCT Registry. June 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.9940-1.2
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2022-08-19
Intervention End Date
2022-11-29

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
News consumption habits, informational knowledge, political attitudes, and democratic preferences
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We provide free access to newspapers by issuing three-month coupons for the treatment group. The individuals can choose among five different newspapers. We also provide incentives for reading through quizzes about the content that is in the news.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done through survey platform
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1660
Sample size: planned number of observations
1660
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
909 control, 78 treatment, 677 treatment+incentives
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Stanford Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2022-08-16
IRB Approval Number
64785
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

News_PAP_Pre_Endline

MD5: 857fe65400009ad768022f2aa381735f

SHA1: bec513b607b3ee7e9ca19379e5a0f0b4bd286fa7

Uploaded At: November 26, 2022

News_PAP

MD5: 952ea3f69549cb745333d18cfcd3b559

SHA1: 7caccc52956eb7891321504ab33f5de1a853b007

Uploaded At: September 06, 2022

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials